Iterum Genus
by Altyerre
Summary: A new year. A new house? Join Harry on his sixth year at Hogwarts. It's going to be different, expecially for one Potions Professor. Spoilers for OoTP, ignors HBP and DH completely.


A/N okay some notes...no i've not given up/forgotten 'Perfect Mate', but my muse had a flip out when i tried to show harry's abuse. He got it bad enough in cannon and some people don't seem to realise it, thus this story was born. it's a one shot in that i don't plan on writting more til 'Perfect Mate' is done at least, but its incomplete cause well...you read it.

Warnings: Ref. Child abuse, Neglect...its cannon though. (N/B I write from the books)

Disclaimer: Not mine. Wish they were. Also the speech given by Snape refferences 'In Plain Sight' by mellisophobia...particularly the part on Slytherin Pride. If you haven't read it yet I highly recommend you do. Personally I skip all of luna's parts and revel in the brilliant set up for Slytherin House.

On with the story.

**Iterum Genus**

Somehow, Harry knew it was not going to be a good year. He entered the great hall for the first time of his sixth year at Hogwarts in a semi dazed silence. He was starving – as only scraps for a summer where known to do – and bone weary. He'd not been sleeping much, every time he closed his eyes he saw Sirius's death.

He stared at the high table, allowing the sorting hats song to sweep over him, listening to the sorting, clapping at the new Gryffindors. Then, instead off being packed away after the last first year the hat shouted "Iterum Genus!"

"Oh my gosh!" Hermione exclaimed. "I've read about this, according to Hogwarts a History it's only been done five times before."

"What is it?"

"It's where the hat asks to resort some of the new NEWT students."

"That's us," Harry said with a cold pit of dread in his stomach.

"QUIET!" Bellowed the hat, effectively cutting off. "The following people move house. Justin Finch-Fetchley to Gryffindor. Lisa Turpin to Hufflepuff. Terry Boot to Gryffindor. Susan Bones to Ravenclaw. Nevil Longbottom to Hufflepuff. Padma Patil to Gryffindor. Gregory Goyle to Hufflepuff. Hermione Granger to Ravenclaw. Harry Potter to Slytherin."

Dead Silence.

"Well move!" snapped the hat. The bubble burst and soon every one was talking. Harry was guided up by his elbow and Hermione gave him a shove in the direction of the Slytherin table, a tight smile on her face.

Harry ignored the spot next to Malfoy, so recently vacated by Goyle, in favour of a seat near the new first years.

"You're Harry Potter!" said the young girl incredulously.

"I am. And you are?" She blushed to the roots of her rather red hair.

"Annabella Perwett."

"Any relation to the Weasleys?" Harry asked the still glowing girl.

"Molly Weasley is my mothers cousin…though we don't talk about them much." Harry raised an eyebrow but let it pass.

Harry barely heard the Headmasters speech, knowing it was finished only because the food appeared at the table.

"Wicked!" Harry stifled a laugh at the exclamation from the boy across from him. He barely ate anything…sticking to the plain foods, knowing that his stomach could handle no more…and contributed very little to the convocation, besides describing classes.

When desert was finally cleared, Malfoy came to show the first years the way to the dorms "-you too, Potter" was tacked on the end. Harry stumbled along barely paying any attention to where he was going until they reached a turn where Malfoy lead left. Harry froze.

"What now, Potter?" snapped Malfoy.

"The common room entrance," he walked down the right corridor a couple of meters, til he found a familiar patch of wall, "is here." The seventh years that were following gapped at him. "What?"

"How did you know that?"

Harry shrugged, then thought what the hell. "First time I was in the Slytherin common rooms was in second year." Malfoy cleared his throat.

"Well…first years have to go through the formal entrance the first time…swear an oath to the house. This way."

Harry nodded and followed Malfoy to a statue of a snake – a Basilisk if he wasn't mistaken.

"The oath itself is simple 'I, name, acknowledge myself as part of the house of Slytherin. Further more, I swear never to use anything said or seen with in these halls against a fellow Slytherin.' That is the oath, simple to remember, but the implications are not. By taking this vow you will be unable to say, tell Dumbldore that a student has the Dark Mark or conversely tell He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named that Harry Potter is an idiot who spends every night in the forest outside the wards and easy to kidnap. It also means not telling anyone that I prefer a muggle shaving kit to a spell. Understood?" There were nods all around. "Well get going, alphabetical order."

One at a time they made the oath, watching with awe as the Basilisk opened its huge jaw revelling a tunnel for each person to enter the common room. Harry was third last.

"I, Harry Potter," he said to the snake, "acknowledge myself," he got no further, cut off by Malfoy punching his arm. "What?" he snapped, Malfoy hitting a bruise.

"English, Potter…not Parseltounge. I need to tell Snape everyone took the vow, and I can't understand if you speak snake."

Taking a breath Harry started again. "I, Har-"

"English, please." Malfoy cut him off.

"It all sounds the bloody same to me." Harry snapped back. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the Bloody Barron watching proceedings.

"My Lord", he called to the ghost, "would you mind standing in front of me please."

Speaking to the ghost produced the vow in English, revealing the tunnel to the common room, where he was promptly jeered at as to the length of time taken for him to speak his oath.

After the last first year entered, Snape swooped through the door with a bang. The common room went silent as he entered. His eyes roamed the room sizing up each Slytherin before moving on to the next. He paused briefly on Harry…but not with the usual sneer, in its place there was blatant curiosity. He shook himself out of his thoughts and turned to address the rest of his Slytherins.

"Welcome, my snakes to Slytherin House. Look around you now, at your new family. I do not ask that you like your house mates. I do demand that you respect them. You are now house mates. A united house does not fall. Inside this room, I care not how many or how often you fight, nor whom you fight against, but remember in the main rooms of Hogwarts you will fight only side by side. That is the first rule of Slytherin, United.

When you walk through the common room door, your appearance will be immaculate and your manners impeccable. Your grades will be to the best of your ability. Let it be known to all the houses that no matter how many points they take, or slurs they throw, you will always have your pride. The pride of a Slytherin.

For those who are purebred, they truly understand the role that I am assigned by the oath that our first years-" he paused looking at Harry, "Our new housemates just took. All of you are now of the house of Slytherin, of which I am the head. I am responsible for the welfare of everyone in this house. This is your home. I am you head of house. You. Are. Mine. If someone is hurting you, you will come to me. If you are being treated unfairly, above par for this school, you will come to me. Whatever is bothering you, I will know about it.

All of you are now in my protection. And if any of you think that protection is weak, think again. As any head of house in a noble line would, I will fight to the death for you. But like all protection, there is a price. I expect honesty. You need not be worried if you think my loyalties lie elsewhere. I will respect you if you are honest.

Honest in everything." His eyes swept the common room again.

"No one in this house shall ever be in pain. If I ever find you walking through a twisted ankle, or hiding a headache, I will know, and their will be detentions. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes Sir."

"Very well then, tomorrow, your student leaders will explain in more detail the inner workings of this house. For now, I suggest you gather into your study groups. For those who had summer assignments, I will be collecting them tomorrow night. First years, please gather around the fireplace." He froze again. "Potter if you would also join them." The attempt at being polite was visibly straining. Snape took a deep breath before joining them at the fireplace.

"This is the Slytherin house floo. It can be used to floo directly to the hospital wing or to firecall my privet quarters in the event of an emergency. That is all. All other traffic is routed to my office. You will not like the consequences of trying to floo anywhere else. Understood?"

"Yes, sir."

"Very well. In a moment we will be flooing directly into the Hospital wing, one at a time; Where Madam Pomfrey will be giving each of you a physical and collecting your medical history. These findings will be confidential. Only the Mediwitch and I will know of them. When this is done, you will return to the common room. After the last student, I will return and place you in a study group and dorm."

He started with the first years, which Harry couldn't decide was a blessing of a curse. Either way, he folded himself against the wall and began to doze.

"Potter!" snapped Snape, "Will you get up." Harry unfolded himself and stood next to Snape.

"This will be fun." He muttered.

"Really, Mr. Potter, it will probably take all of two seconds from Mme Pomfrey to wave her wand and dismiss you."

"I doubt it…not if what you said about being my head of house stands."

"And why's that Mr. Potter?" He asked, hands on the jar of floo powder.

"She's been wanting to do an in depth scan on my arm ever since Lockheart vanished the bones in it, but she couldn't get the Dursley's permission."

"Yes, well, as your Head of House I can certainly give permission for that."

"McGonagall, couldn't."

"I doubt she make's her lions swear to the house of Gryffindor, so no she couldn't. And it's Professor McGonagall to you." He flooed them to the hospital wing.

"Ah ha! There you are Mr Potter, I've been waiting." With a flick of her wand Harry was in a hospital gown. "On the bed there." Harry lay down, smirking slightly at the 'Harry Potter's bed' carved into the headboard, something he'd never bothered to do in the Gryffindor tower.

"Now, Severus, with your permission I'd like…"

"What ever scans you deem appropriate are fine, Mme Pomfrey." She broke out in a wicked smirk, which caused even Snape to back up.

"First things first." She drew her wand.

"Wait," said Harry, "we haven't bet…blue or red, Mme Pomfrey?" She looked him over critically.

"Blue, I hope."

"You always say that. Professor, what do you think?"

"Errm…" Snape tried to think of what exactly they were betting on.

"Don't worry, there's no stake."

"Red then," he said with a shrug, wondering why Mme Pomfrey didn't get started immediately.

"I'm going purple." Harry announced.

"You'd better not be, else I'll have those muggle's hides." The mediwitch practically growled.

"It tastes better."

She sighed and cast the spell. "Somes Vulgus." Snape nearly jumped at hearing the spell that revealed the extent of malnutrition…Pomfrey hadn't even cast the spell to reveal if there was malnutrition.

"And the winner is…" Harry said with a broad grin,

"Sever…by half a pound."

"Missed by this much," Harry held his fingers apart a small way. "And no killing muggles!" Harry yelled as Pomfrey made her way to her office, Snape following.

"Poppy…what…?"

"The standard nutrition potion is blue. Red is for sever cases and a purple potion is formed for the boarder line cases between the two. Of the six years Harry has been here we've had two red, one purple and three blue."

"The betting?" He asked incuriously.

"I make it a game, so he drinks it without complaint. The boy's never drunk pumpkin juice without a nutrient potion in it, Severus…but you know as well as I do that the first of a series must be taken sans additives."

"Of course." He watched as Harry drank the potion without complaint and submit to having his arm immobilised so that Pomfrey could do a deep scan on the regrown bones. His mind was spinning at a mile a minute.

"Now I can't do a medical history, or a full body scan for current injuries…but I can do this one 'Vix Ostendo sum'."

Harry's entire body lit up.

"Is it supposed to do that?"

"Not generally…it shows scarring. 'Parcius Penitus'. That hides the internal scars from the scan."

Harry now was glowing lightly in a number of places.

"Care to run us threw the scars Mr Potter. 'Haud Recubo', the truth if you please…or you will glow red."

"My name is Aaron." Harry said, glowing red. "cool."

"Indeed, Mr Potter, the scars if you please."

"Well, what's glowing, I can't exactly see."

"Your right ankle."

"Dog bite."

A pause as the adults waited for more in formation. None was forth coming.

"A number on your right thigh."

"Broken glass, Should be some on my arm too." He said with a slight shudder, remembering the game of Harry hunting that had led to him squeezing through a broken window to escape, headless of the broken glass tearing at his skin.

"Left inner arm, a knife slash if I'm not mistaken," Snape's voice shook…knowing the main cause of cuts like that.

"Wormtail." Was the short reply, no glow. Snape crinkled his brow in confusion.

"I healed that right after the Tri-wizard competition. Why would it scar?"

Harry shrugged…refusing to answer.

"Right, and the left hand?"

"I will not tell lies."

"I beg your pardon?"

"Umbridge, detention, lines, 'I will not tell lies'." A cold shiver of dread hit Snape at the words. He stared at the scar…the clearly visible 'I will not tell lies'.

"Blood quill?" He heard Pomfrey gasp, "Who…who else, Potter? Who else did lines with the blood quill?"

"Lee Jordan, the twins, others." He gave a one shouldered shrug. Snape was grateful more than ever that he'd instructed his snakes to be exactly what Umbridge had wanted them to be.

"Moving on. The small circular scar below your collar bone." Harry craned his neck in order to see.

"Basilisk fang. I didn't know it had scarred."

"It's a small scar, barely visible." She went to dismiss the spells, but froze mid movement. "Basilisk fang! You were bitten by a Basilisk?!" She screeched.

"Um, yeah…second year…chamber of secrets…fought a basilisk…"

"You and young Miss Weasley came in with a variety of injuries at that time…but I assure you a Basilisk bite was not on the list."

"Fawkes fixed it."

"Phoenix tears have excellent healing properties but-" she was interrupted by a beep. "Hummph. Your bone scan is done, the re grown bones are with in expectable limits for normal activities however they're outside the Quidditch code."

"What, what does that mean?"

"It means you cannot legally play any longer…shouldn't have been playing these last years either, but from the moment I touched this report it became illegal for you to play for a Hogwarts team."

"Well…I guess I'm banned anyway…you can't ban me twice."

"Yes well, it wouldn't have been hard to overturn Umbridges order…this though is irrefutable."

"Yes Mme Pomfrey."

"Now, a full med history and physical are in order I do believe."

Snape hovered in the back hoping for a full bill of health, knowing it was impossible. Even from where he stood he could make out the ring of bruises on his upper arms that he could no longer pass off as anything other than a hand print from a larger individual. Potter it seemed was nothing like he seemed. Either way, Snape would spend tomorrow brewing the potion to reduce the scarring that the Cruciatus Curse left on its victims nerves. Something he honestly should have done last year, but hadn't. Because_ 'Harry Potter didn't really get hurt'_.

He looked to where the charmed quill was onto its second page listing previous injuries.

Or so he'd thought.


End file.
